Marla Dixon started learning the trumpet in high school, then took a hiatus from the instrument until she discovered traditional New Orleans jazz — and never looked back. She moved to New Orleans to throw herself into the music, studying with the late clarinetist Orange Kellin, and quickly rose to lead one of the city's premier traditional jazz ensembles.
Her band, the Shotgun Jazz Band, is an eight-piece outfit with husband John Dixon on banjo, James Evans on reeds, Charlie Halloran on trombone, Tom Fischer on clarinet, Ben Polcer, David Boeddinghaus on piano, and Twerk Thomson on bass. Their sound is a party: the band's motto is that old New Orleans jazz is meant to make people dance, and their Frenchmen Street gigs and Jazz Fest sets do exactly that.
Dixon is also a member of Tom Saunders' Tom Cats and the all-women Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band. With Shotgun she has recorded a string of albums, including Steppin' on the Gas (2017) — which one reviewer called an extraordinary example of ensemble playing — and Live at the Dew Drop (2018), recorded at the historic Mandeville hall.
